CHENNAI: AS the senior men's selection committee meets on Tuesday to name the squad for the upcoming T20 Asia Cup, one of the key talking points will be that of the middle-order batting and wicketkeeper options. That apart, there might not be too many surprises as the Indian T20I team has been hitting the right notes since the World Cup triumph last year.
From the time Gautam Gambhir took charge as the head coach, the Men in Blue has been a dynamic side in the shortest format. It is a team management that likes depth, prefers all-round options and left-right combinations. Despite the criticisms from the outside they have stuck to it and the results have been in their favour.
However, with a World Cup title to defend in less than six months, Gambhir and chief selector Ajit Agarkar will be looking at the roadmap towards the global event in February next year. The first step for that would be the upcoming Asia Cup to be played in United Arab Emirates.
In the lead up to this meeting, the biggest talking point has been whether or not Shubman Gill will come back into the T20I set up. A regular in other two formats and Test captain, Gill has no place in this XI at the moment. Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma take the opening spot with the latter being the more consistent among the two. Then there is the matter of a Test series against West Indies starting less than a week after the Asia Cup. Considering this, it should not be a surprise if Gill is not in the mix. And same goes for Yashasvi Jaiswal.
Skipper Suryakumar Yadav is fit and ready to lead again, Jasprit Bumrah has made himself available and Arshdeep Singh is expected to be back. Mohammed Shami might not make But with the tournament to be played in UAE, it could be another spin heavy squad with Varun Chakravarthy, Ravi Bishnoi, Axar Patel leading the way. The luxury of having Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube will allow them to play all three spinners if necessary.
In saying that, they will also be looking at someone like Shreyas Iyer who might make a come back. An excellent player against spin, Shreyas has significantly raised his T20 stakes after leading Punjab Kings to the IPL final. His experience will also come in handy for the captain who will be the most senior batter in the top five.
There is a chance that Jitesh Sharma might edge past Dhruv Jurel as second keeper and it will be interesting to see if Rinku Singh keeps his place or someone like Washington Sundar, who can also bowl, gets a nod ahead of the left-hander.
All in all, there might not be too many changes from the team that took the field against England earlier this year in January. The clarity on what those changes are and why they were made will be provided by the captain and chief selector on Tuesday afternoon.
